We recently put out a post on YouTube asking people for their favorite springtime beer recipes and Saison was definitely a popular response. To spice things up, we decided to incorporate a classic flavor combo - Strawberries & Lemons. Follow along with the recipe below in order to make a seasonal beer with seasonal ingredients!

This recipe is tailored for our 10 Gallon 120 Volt brewing system. Watch us use it in the video below!

Benchmarks

• OG: 1.053
• FG: 1.011
• ABV: 5.5%

Ingredients Needed

Grains

• 6 lbs 9.6 oz (3 kg) Pilsner (2 Row)
• 1 lb 1.6 oz (499 grams) Vienna Malt
• 1 lb 1.6 oz (499 grams) Wheat Malt

Hops

• 1 ounce (28.35 grams) of Willamette
• .5 ounce (14.17 grams)  of Lemondrop
• .5 ounce (14.17 grams) of Citra

Fruit

• 4 lbs 1 oz (1.85 kg) of Cut Strawberries
• 2.78 oz (78.8 grams) of Lemon Peel 

Yeast

• 2 Packs of WLP568 Belgian Style Saison Yeast

Other

• 1 lb (453.6 grams) of sugar

Brew Day Instructions

Water

Start the brew day by filling your kettle with 7.28 gallons of water. Add ½ of a Campden tablet to remove chlorine and chloramines from your beer. Heat your water to 153 degrees Fahrenheit (67.2 C). The water profile that is recommended for this beer is below.

• Ca: 75-125 PPM
• Mg: 10 PPM
• SO4: 100-150 PPM
• Cl: 100-150 PPM

Mash

Crush your grain and mash in at 153 Fahrenheit (67.2 C). This recipe calls for a 60 minute mash.

Hops & Fruit

After mashing for 60 minutes, bring your kettle to a boil. The hop schedule for this boil is as follows:

• 60 Minutes - 1 ounce (28.35 grams) of Willamette

At flameout we added 

• 1 lb of sugar
• .5 ounce of Lemondrop
• .5 ounce of Citra
• 4 lbs 1 oz (1.85 kg) of Cut Strawberries
• 2.78 oz (78.8 grams) of Lemon Peel 

Yeast & Fermentation

After our flameout addition, we chilled the wort down to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3C), transferred it into a sanitized fermenter (along with the fruit), and pitched 2 packs of WLP568 Belgian Style Saison Yeast.

We let it ferment for 10 days at room temperature before cold crashing it for about a day.

More Fruit?

Our plan for this beer was to add strawberry syrup into the keg after fermentation, but we found that we liked the beer better without syrup. Perhaps if we added sugar to our syrup we might have liked it better. If you’re interested in trying it out yourself, we’ll put the recipe below. Even if it doesn’t taste good, it will make your beer look great!

Strawberry Syrup Recipe

• Add ~4 pounds of quartered strawberries to a pot
• Add heat
• Add a splash of water
• Add Sugar (optional)
• Stir until desired consistency is achieved

Tasting

We absolutely loved how this beer turned out! It had a classic peachy saison look to it and tasted bright and bubbly. Our fruit additions did come through in the final product. While it didn’t taste like lemons or strawberries specifically, the beer did taste fruity and refreshing. We highly recommend you try this recipe out. If you do, let us know how it turns out!

Bonus Recipe

If you do decide to make strawberry syrup and add it to your keg, here is a great recipe that your whole family can enjoy - Italian Soda.

Ingredients

• Strawberry Syrup (or any fruit syrup)
• Ice (optional)
• Sparkling water, club soda, or tonic water
• Whip Cream
• Garnishes (Maraschino Cherries)

Directions

1. Add desired amount of syrup to a glass
2. Add ice (optional)
3. Add your choice of water
4. Add whipped cream
5. Add garnish